MOC project: Heiming Aben Optiek Reuver, built from LEGO

This blog was written by our member Roel Killaars.

At the end of September 2025, I was asked if I could build a LEGO model of the Heiming Aben Opticians and eyewear shop in Reuver. The owner’s wife had already emailed LEGO herself to ask if they could do this, but they referred her to the community itself. As I know her from the village and we’re friends on Facebook, she suddenly thought of me. After making some initial arrangements regarding the desired scale and size of the model, I was able to get started…

It was exciting – I’d never done anything like it before, but it was brilliant! It was definitely a bit of a step outside my comfort zone, but hey, you can build anything with LEGO, can’t you? I started by creating the design in Studio. Using the building plans provided, I was able to scale the building down to ‘minifigure scale’ (roughly 1:42).

After careful consultation, it was decided to fully develop the ground floor, including the shop area, canteen, offices and fitting rooms. All of this was to be fully fitted out and furnished. For the first floor and the attic, I only modelled the front and side elevations; the rear remained open.

Once the design had been approved, the bricks could be ordered (just under 5,000) and the actual building could begin. After a day or two of building, the structure was complete.

The finished model was recently presented at Bricktopia Munstergeleen to a completely surprised owner of Heiming Aben. He had no idea, so he was absolutely flabbergasted! His wife had lured him to our event, haha. He was absolutely delighted with it.

All in all, it was a really cool project to work on. I’ve also gained a lot of experience from it. After all, how do you go about tackling a job like this? What’s the client’s budget? How much time will you spend on the design and the actual build? These are all things you need to consider when taking on a project like this. A tip from me: make clear and detailed agreements in advance about the size, scale and budget for stones etc., and you’ll be well on your way!